Elevating Construction Foremen – Part 13

It’s not the big meetings that really count, but rather the short and powerful daily huddles. A good daily huddle can save everyone an hour or so of needless updates and interruptions, and it is where all the planning you have done finally reaches the people doing the work.

This is Part 13 of my walk-through of my book Elevating Construction Foremen. If you are just joining, start with Part 1. This part covers the worker huddle, the crew preparation huddle, and the safety pre-task plan, the three meetings that line out your crew every morning.

Short answer: Every morning starts with a worker huddle for the whole site, which connects everyone, shares the plan, and backs up the 50% of information that never makes it through crew leaders. Then you run your own crew preparation huddle to line out tools, materials, training, quality, and 5S. And the safety pre-task plan should be visual and real, never pencil-whipped.

Why Does the Worker Huddle Matter So Much?

Every day on the project, workers and crew leaders should be invited as one large group to a quick huddle to start the day. The purpose is to create a social group as an entire jobsite, praise and connect with workers, and gather feedback. It is also where the team teaches daily about project operations and shares the plan for the day. There are few things on a project more important than this meeting, because it unites the efforts of everyone on site. More in The Morning Worker Huddle.

Have your people there on time and paying attention. The project team will likely communicate the day plan in ways that overlap with the instruction you provide, so those two messages must be aligned. Be thankful for this, because 50% of the information communicated through crew leaders never gets to the workers. The worker huddle is a backup and failsafe for the communication systems on site. It also aligns all the separate crew cultures into one project culture, so make sure your leadership motivates the crew and also aligns with the culture and direction of the overall project.

Why Is the Crew Preparation Huddle Your Meeting?

This is your jam. This is where you shine. By now you have attended the pull plan, the precon meeting where you planned with the team, the trade partner weekly tactical where you helped make the weekly work plan, the crew leader huddle where you made the plan for this day, and the worker huddle that just communicated it. All of those meetings take information from its inception to this point, when it gets reinforced by you to the workers. The crew preparation huddle is just you and your team.

What Is on the Crew Preparation Huddle Agenda?

1. Perform a stretch and flex, if applicable.
2. Walk the area of work, if required.
3. Fill out and communicate pre-task plans.
4. Review quality requirements with the crew.
5. Provide any crew training and prepare for the work of the day.
6. Make sure each person understands what they are doing and is assigned to work they are trained for.
7. Gather all tools and equipment needed. Materials should have been staged the day before.
8. Hand out 5S and eight wastes cards and encourage these habits daily.
9. Begin a general 5S of the work area: sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain.
10. Set up the work area for success by eliminating the eight wastes: inventory, overproduction, transportation, motion, waiting, overprocessing, defects, and not using the skills of the team.
11. Safe off your work areas.

The point of this time is to make sure workers are prepared for the day with tools, equipment, instructions, materials, and a place to work. One of the main purposes is to prepare the crew to work in their zone in one-process flow, working a process and finishing it to the standard. Set them up so well that they do not need you the rest of the day. See The Crew Preparation Huddle for more.

How Do You Keep Daily Huddles Moving?

• Have everyone share a potential roadblock that might be coming up. Verbalizing issues helps the whole crew spot slowdowns, reduces the anxiety one person feels about asking for help, and gives you a list of roadblocks to clear.
• Don’t allow anyone to go two days without reporting a roadblock. If someone says everything is fine day in and day out, nip that lack of effort in the bud before it infects the culture. They aren’t buying into continuous improvement, or they are in so deep they can’t see past the next couple of hours.
• Use a timer. Don’t let the meeting drag on. Shoot for one minute per person on roadblock updates and another minute per person on daily tasks.
• Focus on aligning the team and moving them forward together.

How Should a Crew Leader Handle the Safety Pre-Task Plan?

The safety pre-task plan is a tool most trades and general contractors use to do proper safety planning ahead of the work. The form usually orients the crew with questions, analysis of the work steps, and the identification and mitigation of possible hazards. You will receive training on this process from your project and your company.

The important point is to not pencil-whip the form. Filling out a checklist is mentally straining, tedious, and annoying, but you get to do it. Find a way to do it that is effective and visual, so you don’t end up with a piece of paper no one cares about. Consider forms with large fonts and space to draw. Ideally, every crew leader would have a large whiteboard on the back of the gang box, formatted with typical questions, check-off items, the list of activities, mitigation steps, and an area to draw the plan for the crew. That is not because workers are being likened to children. It is because men and women often understand instructions better when they hear and see them.

However you do it, use a standard system to prepare the work to be safe for the workers who will execute the plan. You can pair it with the quality checklist or feature of work visual, or format pre-task plans that include both safety and quality steps. The point is to make the safety and quality expectations crystal clear in the crew preparation huddle. As Pablo Picasso said, “Our goal can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan in which we fervently believe and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”

So here is the challenge. Run your next crew preparation huddle from the agenda above with a timer on, and ask every person for one roadblock. Then redesign your pre-task plan so it fits on a whiteboard with room to draw.

Bottom line: The worker huddle unites the site, the crew preparation huddle sets your crew up to not need you all day, and a visual pre-task plan makes safety real.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

On we go.

Elevating Construction Foremen series:
Previous: Part 12: The Weekly Work Plan, the Day Plan, and Your Morning Routine
Next: Part 14: Instructions to Workers, the Three Habits, and Continual Training

FAQ

What is the purpose of the worker huddle?

To bring every worker and crew leader together as one group each morning, praise and connect with workers, gather feedback, teach about project operations, and share the plan for the day.

What happens in a crew preparation huddle?

It is just you and your crew. Stretch and flex, walk the area, fill out pre-task plans, review quality requirements, train, make sure everyone is assigned to work they are trained for, gather tools, start 5S, and safe off the work area.

How do you keep a safety pre-task plan from being pencil-whipped?

Make it visual and effective, with large fonts and space to draw, ideally on a whiteboard on your gang box. Use a standard system, and combine it with the quality checklist if you prefer.

People Also Read:
Worker Huddles
Crew Preparation Huddles
Lean Onboarding Series – The Crew Preparation Huddle
What Is 5S and How It Applies to Construction